Then I went into EasyBCD (ver 2.1.2) and I added a new entry.
I picked the " Linux/BSD" tab and selected the "GRUB 2" type. The Device shows "(Automatically configured)", and clicked the "Add Entry" button.
Here are the details on this new entry:

Where did you install the Boot Loader too? Cause if you followed that guide completely, you would have been presented with GRUB right after the install of Fedora and would have had to fix the Windows Boot loader in order to get back into Windows to use EasyBCD. The guide states to place the GRUB on the first partition of the first drive, that is where the MBR is located and that would mean that you would have to fix Windows to get back.

So did you use GRUB to get back into Windows to use EasyBCD or did it just boot directly to Windows?

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Where did you install the Boot Loader too? Cause if you followed that guide completely, you would have been presented with GRUB right after the install of Fedora and would have had to fix the Windows Boot loader in order to get back into Windows to use EasyBCD. The guide states to place the GRUB on the first partition of the first drive, that is where the MBR is located and that would mean that you would have to fix Windows to get back.

So did you use GRUB to get back into Windows to use EasyBCD or did it just boot directly to Windows?

Click to expand...

Well, in reviewing the text in the guide article, it says the following:
• Tick Install boot loader on ..., and click the Change device
button.
Select First sector of boot partition - /dev/sd** and click
OK
(/dev/sd** is the Device name you noted above, like /dev/sda3 or /dev/sdb1).

I do remember selecting that "First sector of boot partition" radio button during the Fedora install.
When I got done installing Fedora and rebooted, I was taken immediately to the normal Windows boot menu.
I did not see GRUB. I believe Fedora got installed in a partition on my second hard drive--
because if I run this command under GRUBDOS:

> root (hd1,2)

it says "Filesystem type is ext2fs, partitiontype 0x83".
And if I run this command:

> cat (hd1,2)/boot/grub2/grub.cfg

it does show the contents of a Linux configuration file.

I don't specifically see a mention in the guide that GRUB has to be on the first partition ON THE FIRST HARD DRIVE.
But if you say it has to be that way, I could try reinstalling and putting the boot loader on the first drive.

In the meantime, is there an easy way just to force the Windows boot menu entry for Fedora to boot from (hd1,2)
[or wherever it needs to point]?

Thank you,
-john

Addendum

OK, I installed Fedora on my first HD.
This caused GRUB to get installed in the MBR and I was able to start Fedora that way.
But I don't want to use the GRUB boot menu; I just want to use the Windows boot menu(!) I don't need two (2) boot menus!
So I quickly overwrote GRUB in the MBR by reinstalling the Windows MBR. That put me back to just the Windows boot menu.

Next I went back to EasyBCD and picked the "Linux/BSD" tab and selected the "GRUB 2" type.
The Device shows "(Automatically configured)", and clicked the "Add Entry" button as before.

PROBLEM: After rebooting, I still get the "GRUB4DOS" prompt when I try to boot up into Fedora.

However, once at the "GRUB4DOS" prompt, I determined that I can successfully boot into Fedora by running the following commands in sequence:

kernel (hd0,6)/vmlinuz-3.3.4-5.fc17.x86_64 root=/dev/sdb3

initrd (hd0,6)/initramfs_3.3.4-5.fc17.x86_64.img

boot

Given that this set of commands works, is there an easy way just to issue these commands automatically when the Fedora boot option is selected on the Windows boot menu? That would solve my problem.

Thank you,
john

Addendum

Also, discovered that issuing the following commands from the GRUB4DOS command-prompt brings up the GRUB menu, allowing me to boot into Fedora:

kernel (hd0,6)/grub2/i386-pc/core.img

boot

So again, is there any simple way of sticking this command inside the Windows boot menu?

You need to select Windows, use EasyBCD to over write the MBR so that you only have the Windows boot loader. From there make sure it is setup properly and viola. Dual boot achieved.

But this doesnt negate GRUB. It will still present you with the GRUB menu. Remember EasyBCD and BCD itself is a Windows based tool and has no effects on anything else. So if you wish to remove the GRUB you have to do that within Fedora. You dont technically remove it you just get rid of the timeout. So it wont wait 10 or 30 seconds to boot, but at the same time you will have no options to get into any safe mode or anything else if something goes wrong. So be careful what you do when you decide to modify GRUB. As there is no way to fix it with EasyBCD.

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Thank you zgraf. I had the same problem and couldnt have solved it without your help. Following your advice I was able to boot into fedora.
BTW, if you want to fix this problem, in EasyBSD, modify the linux entry. For Fedora17, in easybsd I used grub legacy, which allows me to indicate the partition where grub2 is installed.
Thats the trick. Fedora is using grub2, but I tell easybsd it uses grub legacy and indicate the partition where (grub2) is installed. It just works!

Thank you zgraf. I had the same problem and couldnt have solved it without your help. Following your advice I was able to boot into fedora.
BTW, if you want to fix this problem, in EasyBSD, modify the linux entry. For Fedora17, in easybsd I used grub legacy, which allows me to indicate the partition where grub2 is installed.
Thats the trick. Fedora is using grub2, but I tell easybsd it uses grub legacy and indicate the partition where (grub2) is installed. It just works!

Click to expand...

I'm glad you got it to work, but I don't understand what you did. I tried choosing grub legacy, but all I got was a screen with the single word GRUB in it. Fedora 17 creates two directories: /boot/grub and /boot/grub2. They are both in the same paritition: the partition mounted on /boot. I don't see any way to tell grub legacy to look in /boot/grub2. Just exactly how did you do that?

... Thats the trick. Fedora is using grub2, but I tell easybsd it uses grub legacy and indicate the partition where (grub2) is installed. It just works!

Click to expand...

oint:I'll second that!
It works with LinuxMint12, also. After puzzling over why Mint wouldn't boot, why I needed a hardware reset each time I tried to run Mint, trying the latest EasyBCD beta, reinstalling Mint, etc., I saw this post -- and it worked perfectly.

At long last, the grub menu displayed the first time, after selection on the MS Windows boot menu!

So, it is possible the automatic Grub2 detection isn't working, in all cases?

I've gotten a lot of reports of compatibility issues between EasyBCD and the latest Fedora. I'll need to download it and see what changes they've made that make it behave so oddly.

Click to expand...

Read some of the other topics. I know I posted about it in one of them. UEFI is now part of the new Fedora. The same thing that Microsoft incorporated into Win8 and the whole "secure boot". Fedora followed suit. That is where there is such an issue.

~Alex~ .:Forum Moderator:..:Guinea Pig for Testing:.I do not accept support questions via EMail, PM, IM or my Spaces page! .This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.All your posts are belong to NeoSmart!!

~Alex~ .:Forum Moderator:..:Guinea Pig for Testing:.I do not accept support questions via EMail, PM, IM or my Spaces page! .This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.All your posts are belong to NeoSmart!!

A number of distros have moved the location of GRUB2's core.img from /boot/grub/core.img or /boot/grub2/core.img to /boot/grub(2)/i386-pc/core.img

It seems Fedora 17 is guilty of this one, as well as new Gentoo and ArchLinux releases. Can't find any documentation on when/why but EasyBCD build 179 is configured to search those directories as well.

Mahmoud Al-Qudsi, NeoSmart Technologies

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